Cydcor/DS-MAX Scam? Yes It Is In My Opinion!

My subscribers have requested that I take a look into a company called Cydcor. When I found out that they were linked with a company called DS-MAX, I knew this was going to be some interesting research. DS-MAX’s nickname is Devilcorp.

DS-MAX uses many different company names to run the same scam all over the world. Here is how the scam works. They run ads on Craigslist and other job boards and offer Management Entry Level positions. Once you accept their job offer, you will find yourself selling products and services door to door. In many cases you will end up working 60 hours per week for less than minimum wage. Depending on the state, you will be 100% commission to start. These guys are the masters of the job scam.

Management – Entry Level

T.A.G Advertising, located in California is an independently owned brand management and advertising firm. T.A.G. is contracted with the Fortune Magazine’s top 1000 companies in the world.

We are looking for quality full time entry level individuals to train and advance through our sales and consulting team. This entry level full time person must have a positive and enthusiastic demeanor and work well in a strong entry level team environment. Our position involves one on one sales interaction with customer’s full time.

This is an entry level, full time sales position. We are looking to train in: sales, campaign development and business operations from entry level.

T.A.G. is now offering full time positions at the entry level for sales and marketing. We are looking for full time entry level people with diverse backgrounds. If you are tired of working in the restaurant, hospitality or retail business, use your experience and switch fields. We are only meeting with candidates that want a full time entry level career, so please only apply if you are serious about making the change.

Responsibilities at the entry level include:
Assisting in the daily full time operation of our company
Assisting in new business acquisition for our client
Developing strong leadership skills among our employees
Managing external customers’ needs
Sales and consulting

We are constantly looking to surround ourselves full time with the most profitable clients, the most charismatic people, and the most ambitious entry level full time managers. We treat our full time entry level employees as future partners and we know we are all more effective when we are equipped with the right training and knowledge.

To apply for this full time entry level position, you must clearly demonstrate the following qualities:
Great personality and people skills
Professional demeanor
Excellent communication skills
Ability to work in a fast paced, high-energy, full time environment
Ambition, strong work ethic, and willingness to learn
A desire to work in an entry level team-based environment

Why is our company so awesome to work for?

BECAUSE WE OFFER:

Advancement opportunities from entry level into Human Resources, Management and Consulting Full Time
Competitive compensation
Fun & exciting team environment
Full Training

Comprehensive and continued training including (but not limited to) Business Building Blocks, Financial training, shadowing, campaign knowledge and more for full time entry level openings
Our full time entry level Management team is TOP of the line!!
Fun company events such as National Award Conference, R&R Weekend, Keys to Success, Team Nights, Community Service Events and more

***We are NOT a telemarketing company and we do NOT do any OUTSIDE SALES!***

For immediate consideration, submit your UPDATED RESUME.

Thank you for your interest and good luck!

Here is a video expose of one of the “independent” DS-MAX offices.

The Cydcor/DS-MAX scam is really ingenious. The entire company is setup in such a way that they squeeze the most out of eager young talent and give back as little as possible. They don’t have to offer any benefits until 90 days of employment but they know that 95% of of the people “hired” will figure out that they have been duped well before they have to pay. The only overhead that they have is renting office space to give the impression to new recruits that they are a legitimate company and paying the secretary/recruiter who spends her day scheduling interviews to keep up with the constant turnover.

This company constantly changes the names of the field offices so that people are unable to track down useful information on this job scam. Here is a link to some of the company names that have been connected with DS-MAX. DS-MAX has changed their name to Innovage in the USA.

Innovage, LLC engages in marketing and supplying professional products. The company offers books, giftware, house and kitchen wares, business and commercial products, plants/foliage, toys and games, irons, telephones, CD cases and accessories, watches, pen sets, radios, and bags through its marketing site. It has a strategic alliance with Three Sixty Sourcing, Ltd. The company was formerly known as DS-MAX USA, Inc. and changed its name to Innovage, LLC in May 2004. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California. Innovage, LLC operates as a subsidiary of DS-MAX Canada, Inc. – Source Bloomberg

Here is a link to a document that shows that DS-MAX and Cydcor are affiliated with each other.

Here is a video presentation for Cydcor.

Since the name that this company goes by is always changing, I want to share with you their system so you will know what to look for.

It all starts with an email when you apply for one of their Management positions.

Hello ***** ,

I’d like to thank you for your interest in our company and the positions that are currently available. After considering several candidates that have applied to our openings, we would like to invite you in for a preliminary, one on one interview, with our directing manager. The management team and I have reviewed a large amount of resumes and we feel as if yours exemplifies many of the qualifications that we are looking for in our team. We would like to meet with you within the next few days to begin the formal interview process.

As soon as you receive this email, please contact me at xxx-xxx-xxxx in order to schedule a definite time to meet with you and discuss the opportunities that are available at our firm. Below, you will find our contact information. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

They will schedule a short 15 minute first interview with you. During this interview they will verify you speak English and dress well. They will be very vague about what the business is all about. If you ask too many tough questions, they will not invite you back for a second interview. They will end the interview and tell you they will call you to let you know if you made the grade.

You will receive a call for a second interview shortly after your first interview. Your second interview will be a day of observation. You will be doing a walk along with a current representative of the company. The day of observation will be hours of one on one/door to door sales. If you convince them you are excited about this type of work, they will invite you to become a sales rep. Most people walk away at this point when they find out that they will not be doing management.

Here is what each day will be like as a sales rep. You will have an hour long meeting in the morning. This meeting includes loud music, Cydcor lingo, and practice pitching. Then you go out into the field. At the end of your day there will be another meeting. Your day is from 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM. You are in the field around 8 hours each day six days a week. None of your meals or travel expenses are reimbursed.

What keeps people going through these grueling days with very limited pay is the promise of becoming a six figure earner which never comes for almost everyone.

Here is a video that explains what happens each day in the office.

Here are some red flags to look out for when dealing with a DS-MAX affiliated company.

They want you to start immediately, provide full training, and claim to offer earnings close to $400-$800 per week.

The office looks like it is nearly bare or they just moved into it.

They contact you within hours after you apply.

There is a four step ‘business progression’ which takes 9–18 months to complete. They claim you move from Field Representative to Team Leader to Assistant Manager/Owner to Manager/Owner. The last stage is where you’d earn the big bucks.

You are required to sign an Agreement that states you are not associated with the company and that the role is 100% commission based. You are told that you are ‘self employed’ and need to pay for all expenses.

You hear the chant JUICE, DS-Max’s slogan (‘Join Us In Creating Excitement’).

The term ‘Law of Averages’ is used.

Your days consist of morning teachings with music blaring, a talk by a manager and 8–10 hours of door-to-door selling. – Source Doortodoortruth.wordpress.com

The reason for the nickname of Devilcorp for Cydcor/DS-Max is you feel like you have to make a deal with the devil to succeed.

Here is a quote from a previous representative that explains this deal you have to make.

So you will be expected to uproot your entire existence and sacrifice whatever financial security, friendships, relationships and credit fitness you have if you decide to pursue a career with this company. Then you have to succeed at getting others to sacrifice whatever financial security, friendships, relationships and credit fitness they have just so you in turn can make a buck. It’s a vicious cycle. And take note that only the weak-willed will allow themselves to be permanently suckered into Scam and their affiliated companies all while sacrificing their morals and their conscience for a cult-like and greed-driven mentality.

I was only it in 6 months, I can’t even begin to imagine how corrupt, illegal and downright evil this company really is from the top. If I ever make it to public office or find myself in some position of more widespread influence, I will highly publicize and expose the inner workings of this corporate abomination. – Source Glassdoor.com (Smart Circle Is Another Company Name DS-Max Uses.)

Cydcor/DS-MAX Scam Conclusion

In my opinion, Cydcor/DS-Max is a job scam. They offer you a management position and what you get is a straight commission, face-to-face/door-to-door sales position with little chance of making significant income. Don’t let them scam you out of your time and effort.

So as a fresh graduate I went looking for jobs around marketing, I had to make a living and earn something since I had a 5-year old at home. I came across multiple job ads in zip recruiter and i apply to CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGER positions or ENTRY-LEVEL MARKETING. red flag # 1 , instantly within a day i received a call from these companies asking to meet me and that my resume was outstanding. So I decided to go the first preliminary interview then the second round, which this was a door to door selling or they didn’t take me out nowhere i was still in the office. (i been reading a lot about door to door but nothing about retail) but yes i was going to end up selling Verizon fios at Walmart for about 1 month. why i stay there that long IDK! Anyways everyone working there is either just “ACTING’ for you or brainwashed and actually believe this crap. they all had rough backgrounds or just wanted to do something to impress their parents. they will all talk about being financially free and will give back to their communities, and its sad how everyone is really into it. THEY’RE CYDCOR ZOMBIES!!!! they don’t reimburse you for the gas that you will be driving each day to these walmart’s. 45 minutes away from the office. no benefits, no base salary or no hourly rate. is all 100 percent commission. I was pretty good at it since i had marketing and sales background, they promise me a pay of 400 to 800 a week and that wasnt the case. My biggest check was 360 dollars which its so stupid bc i made $700 in commission that week, and oh yeah, they will pay you 2 weeks after the sale is placed. so w.e you made that week you wont see until 2 weeks from then. they told me someone cancel and i had to pay back supplemental plus taxes which it all came out $360. Team nights are mandatory even if they say its not, you literally have to suck up to the “owner” so you can get promoted. Our day started at 11 to 8 and after that we go straight home. NO ONES SHOWS UP AT 11! everyone is there around 930 or 10, bright and early so they can suck up to the owner. They even stay until later so they can get on bell. lets do the math for a minute. you are paid to work 40 hours but realization is you end up working late and driving everywhere adds up to 50 to 60 hours a week. lets say 60 for the sake of this comment. i never got a paid check this bring from them but lets say 500 in a week you work 55 hours 500/60=8 you’re getting 8 and hour WTF you could be close to that somewhere else in retail or anywhere only working 40 hours a week close to home and actually benefits. THIS IS INSANE! anyways I did intensive research and i found out a lot about cydcor and ICLs throughout the US. i finally quit my job about a 2 weeks ago and I am now in so much relieve i got a better job and I’m giving my 5 year old the life he deserves. Thank you Ethan Vanderbuilt for this great website, I hope everyone that is trapped with cydcor finally realizes this is a scam. You can find a way better job with real benefits!

So I got out of the military in November of 2015 after serving for eight years and am currently in the Tampa, FL area where I separated from and decided to stay and tied to the area – bought a house, just had my first born and life is great! Anyway, I started my terminal/transition leave on September 19th 2015 and even before then I was looking for work and I officially separated on November 13th. I managed to get a job two months after I separated officially – understandable since I got out before Thanksgiving and I know hiring is tough around then due to the holidays.

Anyway, All I could find were tons and tons of sales jobs. Many of which had high requirements to include a bachelors and years of experience and were very vague when you saw the job posting; I’m sure if I applied anyway since I lacked sales experience I would have gotten hired anyway. I guess they are real sneaky here with trying to get people – not just to attract those who are that desperate. And these were all Cydcor and their ilk related scams. I later got a job in January which I have since lost and I am right back to where I was when I got out and honestly…there are at least five scams in this area. Back around November my wife completely pooped her pants when she saw this one ad for a “entry level sales/management position, apply today start tomorrow!!11”. I looked it up and I see it has changed names twice, no longer exists (drove by today some months later) and sure enough it was selling cosmetics. I’m a dude and don’t wear them and my wife doesn’t wear a ton of make up so yeah, how the hell would I sell this? I applied since it was my wife. Ironically enough, I didn’t hear back that day or the day after but this time when I got out, I applied to a few companies on Careerbuilder and I did the “apply to other companies” when you apply for one job and I got three of these companies to call me back. One was VERY eager to know where I lived, and the other was nearby. Ironically one of them I did a google search and never found anything for them in my area. Instead with this one company, I got an address and name of a NYC apartment and the Glassdoor reviews are less than glowing. Be careful out there!

Forgot to mention, these companies all have the same thing in common: The facebook pages (lol) if they exist this is what it is like:

99% of their posts on Facebook are two things: 1. People having fun and 2. Motivational quotes and articles and guides on how to be awesome or habits or tips of great employees. I’m not against people having fun at work and advertising it on FB, HOWEVER you never see any photos of people doing any work and honestly tons upon tons of motivational quotes. I want to say this is to disguise how shitty the job is by appealing to people that it isn’t that bad when in reality it is.

The other 1% I guess is people getting promoted again and again, and there was one locally where they were trying to raise $500 for a charity. That’s a pretty low number for this company. I say that is a low number because surely if this company is that awesome by promoting people all the time they should be able to get this $500 in a matter of minutes and not begging for them on your FB page! Seriously, there were people getting promoted promoted that there are going to be multiple CEOs sooner than later. You know how many companies have multiple VP positions to where being a VP doesn’t matter anymore? Well this one place is going to have multiple CEO positions!

The websites are just generic website builder stuff that don’t say anything. In fact I went to a veteran job fair and almost got bated with these types of companies except it was insurance.

Detail/Timeline of Fraudulent Practices perpetrated on Benjamin Olree by IM Consultants of Haveford, PA (a subsidiary of Cydcor):
Earnings after taxes = $940
Approximate, anticipated earnings based on statements made by owner during interviews & job offer letter = $3900
March/April 2016: Job interviews & job offer. During interviews, Ben is told that he will make $300 a week as a management/business intern. He was given job offer letter with a job description.
May 6 – May 20: The owner informs Ben and the other interns that the summer internship is completely comprised of selling Verizon FIOS telecommunication packages DOOR TO DOOR. Interns are expected to use their own transportation, at their own expense, to drive to distant (& often dangerous) Philadelphia area neighborhoods to knock on doors and ask residents to purchase this product. During this time period, Ben is with a trainer while making sales calls.
May 23: Ben begins inquiring about when he will be paid. He is informed that the first two weeks are considered training & he will only be paid $125 for the past 2 weeks because it was training.
June 03: Received first paycheck totaling of $165.08 (after taxes) which is for 2 weeks of training and commission that he had to split with another employee because they were making calls together. Ben is promoted to “leader” and pressured to go to 100% commission plan. Owner tells him that he can switch back to base pay of $300/week on a weekly basis as long as he declares his intention to work on base pay or on commission each Monday morning.
June 06: Received paycheck totaling $308 (after taxes).
June 17: Received paycheck totaling $219 (after taxes). Ben’s success in making sales starts to decrease. Please note that the owner assigns the routes and Ben notes that his assignments are being made to more & more economically disadvantaged parts of the city where it is impossible for residents to afford this service. Ben informs the owner that he wants to return to a base pay compensation plan & is told that he must work 6 days a week to qualify for base pay. He is offered an opportunity to work in Washington, DC – where he will hopefully have more success.
Week of June 20: Travels with owner & other employees to work in Washington, DC. Car used to travel to neighborhoods for sales call breaks down repeatedly & he is unable to many sales calls.
27June: Ben restates that he wants to work on base pay for the week of 27June. Ben is told by the owner that he can work on base pay, but will have to make 3 sales by Wednesday or “this job isn’t for you.” Owner also tells him that “his ass is grass” if doesn’t make a sale.
27-30 June: Ben works noon – 8 or 9 pm each day & doesn’t make a sale. He is fired by the owner, Alex Navarrete for not making his sales quota for the week. PLEASE NOTE: Offer of employment & interview process NEVER mentioned sales quotas as a requirement of remaining employed. Ben’s employment is terminated before Ben can work the 6 days in a week required to earn “base pay,” so Ben will not be paid for the 40 hours worked the week of 27June.

Complaints have been filed with the AG of PA, the BBB of Western PA, and Verizon Corporate Compliance. Negative reviews posted to GlassDoor about Benjamin’s experience were removed by the website. Owner also harassed my son after terminating – demanding that I remove negative comments about the company from the website. When I refused, I assume he contacted GlassDoor and required them to remove them.

The telepath-July 23rd, 2016 at 9:53 PMnone
Comment author #13418 on Cydcor/DS-MAX Scam? Yes It Is In My Opinion! by Ethan Vanderbuilt

Hello, I am a very intelligent individual with 15+ percent fluctuating compacitor of telepathy. With that said I saw the evil in their eyes since day one.
I shrugged it off thinking it was PTSD they all had from truely hard work door to door to eventually climbing the ranks to their current position as owner, as leads, etc.

Then I saw how they treated a very pretty waitress at local bar. Talking trash and laughing, and obviously trying to confuse her on the order. Very distasteful. I was avg. 7 years older than colleagues. I too have already had extensive roles as management,……but I got duped.

Facing financial and relationship challenges threw me into the hot seat immediately. Sympathy and concern from colleagues seemed to be there…….but the daily talk about “team building” was straight up bullshit. I’ve been a mentor before, and the only ones hanging around the firm were those still living under mom and dads umbrella…….not joking. Nothing wrong with living with family, but they are so out of touch with independent success. Lots of growing up to do.

All in all it was a good experience to see what is going down with big biz and the great success stories it offers, but it drained me, it drained my marriage, it forced me into further debt, and the friends that said they like reaching out to others, only reach out to the shaven, promiscuous, insincere, intoxicated, peddlers who help sustain office bonuses. Love them as people, but totally despise the demon resting on several of them.

I worked for one of these Cydcor syndicate drones for a grand total of three days plus the interview process. I had just moved to the city after quitting my last job and I was just happy to find something right away.

Absolutely everything written here is accurate to the last detail. Gibberish job posting, barebones office, long hours, low pay (no pay in my case but more on that later).

Literally two hours after applying on Indeed I got a phone call asking me to come in for an interview. I basically met the secretary and an assistant manager who basically gave me the run around to an extreme when I directly asked if this involved door to door sales. When I could clearly tell this interview was just to see if I spoke English I basically stopped trying; I could have told them I invented time travel and still have gotten the job.

Lo and behold, 6:00 that night I get a call for a second interview. This was the fast food interview. And yes, they almost certainly lie when they tell you you’re one of three out of like 25 candidates called back. They call it the Jones Effect and it’s part of their sales pitch strategy. Kind of disenfranchising, but whatever; salespeople do that stuff all the time everywhere. That’ll never change.

The guy who ended up being my “team leader” took me to Starbucks (I think?) the next day and started telling me how rock n roll awesome the company is and how I can be making six figures within 18 months.

Then he laid out the “paid” training process. 2 weeks, 6 days a week, $200. Two. Hundred. That’s of course before taxes which in my city would have netted about $140. We were probably there for about two hours before I heard a legitimate interview question, “why should we NOT hire you?” I’ll admit, that question was probably the most interesting and productive part of this process.

Whatever though, because I needed a job. They offered, I accepted. Day one came, we went through a mindless morning meeting that frankly would make Pavlov cringe. This lasted about an hour and then I was sent out with another team leader in a beaten up little buggy that frankly was one shift stall away from exploding. Dude didn’t say a word the entire time, took the extremely scenic route (two hours to a neighborhood 20 minutes away…. even the leaders knew our time had little value to these people) and the door knocking began.

A few days went by, I racked up a few sales along with my actual leader who interviewed me. The people were very friendly and I started to realize I might actually be good at this. On my second day we were the “high rollers,” and the morning after we got to give a motivational speech during morning meetings. I felt on top of the world, completely blind to what was going on around me.

Even though this same day was the day I left, I wish I could say it was because I had some kind of epiphany halfway through the ridiculously long drive to the next town over. Nope, instead it was the barrel of a loaded gun I stared down at my final house.

Now obviously, that POS was not Cydcor’s fault, and the situation itself wasn’t my reason for quitting. If this happened a year down the road I would’ve been freaked out but looked at it as an obstacle to overcome in a normal situation. No big whoop, occupational hazard, move on.

The reason I quit was because while this was all happening my idiot leader was still trying to peddle with the guy while he was making his intention to splatter us all over his porch quite clear. “Early objection” he called it. Like a sale is REALLY that important to them. Adding insult to injury when we got back to the car to process what just happened, I was told not to file a police report (I did anyway the next day and was reprimanded by the desk sergeant for poor judgment). Once it became abundantly clear that I couldn’t work anymore that day, we headed back to the office early.

On the way back, I heard a long sales pitch about why I needed to stay the course, nothing I didn’t hear in the fast food interview. The best part was when he told me the president of Cydcor apparently owns a multimillion dollar mansion with an industrial size walk in fridge et cetera et cetera, and that “[he] doesn’t do it for him, [he] does it for us.” Yeah, really, verbatim. That’s when the glass menagerie shattered for me.

We got back to the office, and I told my leader I would give some thought to what he said in the car, and I did. The second I got home I went online and searched Cydcor (he actually mentioned the name I was shocked) and I came across many like minded blog posts such as this one. Family and friends advised me after I told them of my experience and findings that these guys weren’t even worth going into the office ever again even to quit, but in fairness to them, like I mentioned previously, that lunatic was not their fault, just their reaction was. I went in the next day, we shook hands and parted ways. The owner was very gracious and understanding about it and I am most grateful for that out of this whole experience.

…

Oh, and just when you thought I would actually be noble and take the high road concluding this story… I never got paid. I worked that week for free because I didn’t want to work for people who so blatantly overlooked being nearly killed on the job. I thought about fighting, but I just didn’t feel that any more energy was worth expending on these people.

So is this a textbook pyramid scheme? No, not really. Is it still a deplorable mindless work environment that gouges the hopes and ambitions of young graduates? Absolutely yes. You’re better off working in a Starbucks until you find your footing than dealing with these con men.

I worked 8 months for Granton, previous div of DS-Max, back in the ’90s. Job posting was ridiculously off-base and lots of promises during the interview of upward mobility, big money yada yada. And definite cult techniques at work in the office. But they never asked me for a dime, never really flat-out lied (although tons of over-promising) and if you worked hard, you made money. Door-to-door is hard work with plenty of rejection but we made $15 a sale and had some good promotions (2-for-1 golf rounds sold themselves!) so making $150-$200 a night was fairly regular. All cash (sorry Mr Taxman), in 1995 for a 22 year old kid? That was enough for rent and bar tabs and then some. Plus the “sexual relations between workers” mentioned above by Alabama…something wrong with that?! When the university kids showed up from May to Sept, it was fish in a barrel. Easiest “work” ever. It’s a wonder we all survived with our junk intact…
So yeah, do they fool young people into working hard and playing hard with a 1/1000 chance of actually getting rich? Yup. But do I regret learning how to cold call, handle rejection and really sell, while boozing it up and getting laid all summer long? Never.
So if you’re going in, do it with open eyes, a strong gut and plenty of condoms…you just might learn something. Juice WOO!

Scammed in Alabama-April 17th, 2016 at 8:47 PMnone
Comment author #12468 on Cydcor/DS-MAX Scam? Yes It Is In My Opinion! by Ethan Vanderbuilt

Wrinardo McKennedy has now scammed everyone in Illinois with his compnay Blue, Inc. and moved on to Alabama! He has opened up a new company called 45 Inc. He is scamming people with the same tactics etc… he promises branch manager positions, six figure income and preys on young attractive women. They encourage sexual relations between workers also to further isolate you from friends and family. If you have been scammed by Wrinardo or any of his buddies I encourage you to contact the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and the BBB! They prey on vulnerable uneducated desperate individuals and praise them and use other psychological tactics to draw them in and keep them in till they break them and/or bankrupt them.

45 inc in Alabama. Young girl I know road with this so called TEAM LEADER today. Said he smoked dope the entire day while driving the car in these horrible neighborhoods. Had they been stopped she would have been in trouble. I intend to report this to the authorities first thing in the morning. These people ALL need to be jailed!

I’m working for one now. All of my research brings me to a Cydcor connection. The office I work is an offspring of an office named Detroit Business Consultant, whose “owner” is linked to the Cydcor conspiracy. Everyday, we harp the 4s, 5s, and 8s. We play two ball before bell and go to leaders drinks on a Tuesday and office night on a Thursday. Very high intensity, loud music, and enthusiasm. But It’s ran its course. I’m faking behing happy and even though I know the system, I can’t bring myself to follow up with the customers when they give me their phone numbers. Also, someone got killed in a “T” I was working in. For some reason, that didn’t seem to bother many co-workers. I’m in the military and that shit puts me off. I’m a bit over a month in, I believe it’s time to pull the plug.

Detroit Business Consultants is run by Michael Rosenberg, who’s now a Consultant under the Credico scheme (an identical off-shoot of Cydcor). My partner and I filed a national class action lawsuit against Credico, and we’re reaching out to people from all over the country to kickstart a movement against these fraudulent companies and give a voice to the countless people and their families who’ve been fucked over by these guys. We’ve been interviewing dozens of people and collecting their stories and statements, so we can bring attention to these con artists, make it go viral, and shut them down.

If you’re interested in shutting them down, contact me on my Facebook or e-mail (philip.vasto@outlook.com). We’d love to hear from you.

Thank you Ethan for shedding some light on this underhanded and manipulative business practice, and thank you all for sharing your stories as well. First, I would like to say that there is nothing wrong with door-to-door sales in and of itself. the problem with all of these companies is that they profit off of hard-working individuals while constantly offering up promises that they will never be able to fulfill. I’m sure individuals are able to work hard and move up the ranks in these companies while making some substantial income, but only if they are willing to embrace and implement the decietfull and manipulative hiring practices that the companies business plans are dependent on. For those of you who defend this business practice, if you want to know the price of ethics and morality in business and society as a whole, all you have to do is look at your paycheck, because that’s what you have given up in return for that money.
All of these companies operate in pretty much the same manner; they all implement MLM type business strategies that keeps money flowing from the bottom to the top, excercising exploitative and decietfull tactics to obtain and retain employees while profiting all-the-while. I don’t care how much money I could make doing this because I would nver be willing to take advantage of or exploit people for my own personal gain. Bottom line is that it takes a special kind of hard-working, selfish, and morally inept scumbag to be successfull in these businesses. The practice of taking advantage of the less-fortunate people in need is abhorant, and although it’s a free market and people can decide to quit at anytime, the practice is akin to human trafficking in the business world. For those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have identified three companies that are either affiliated or associated with Cydcor, Smart Circle International, or Vantage Inc.

I currently am working for one of these ICLs under Cydcor. I found this article and am now debating quitting. Its sickening to think that the company I work for does literally everything listed here. Though mine is not door to door, the pay structure is still a 300 base- draw on commission. Now, I did however fill out a W-2 and 3 people from this office have been promoted out to ownership. though the truth to what anyone actually makes a year is still shrouded in smoke. I would like an opinion please. The Company name, is MGA Business Consulting Inc. It branched from DMC Atlanta which is on the list of companies you provided.

This is my account of my experience with STC Direct AKA SSM Direct AKA Olympus Direct out of King Of Prussia, PA (A direct Cydcor affiliate)

The deception here is on a whole ‘nother big-brother level. This company has removed EVERY SINGLE trace they have to Cydcor, the company of which they are a branch of. You will not be able to find ANYTHING on the entire internet connecting these two companies. Cydcor was previously known as DS-Max. Cydcor/DS-Max is a GIGANTIC maniacal global brainwashing sales cult that has spawned into hundreds, if not thousands of BS sales/marketing companies all following the exact same corrupt, pyramid business structure under different names. Cydcor/DS-Max’s history is laden with lawsuits and illegal activities that you can easily find by googling either one of those names. This company is so powerful, that they have successfully managed to delete negative glassdoor.com reviews (I came across the remnants of a negative glassdoor review for Olympus Direct in a google search result, only to click the link and find that the “page no longer existed”) leaving their fake 5 star reviews in their place. Go ahead! Check out the employee reviews written by the company! They’re faker than Pamela Anderson’s t*ts! Olympus Direct/STC Direct is not door-to-door like other Cydcor affiliates, but instead places employees in retail stores like Wal Mart and Verizon Wireless as independent sales agents (but every workday begins in their sham of an office in a King Of Prussia business park). After an unpaid hour and a half in this rented-out office, you go out into “the field” aka the verizon wireless store, they have you constantly stalk customers in the store and pester them till they give in and sign up or FiOS (FiOS itself is a legit service, but the ethics of Olympus Direct are despicable). If a potential Fios customer decides not to sign up, your team leader will have you get their phone number and pester them on their landline and cellphone, even encouraging you to text them. Any sign-ups you do manage to get from people will require you to provide your PERSONAL cell phone number on their introduction packet and falsely assure them that any questions they have about the installation or service should be directed to you (except you don’t know the first thing about any of that stuff and will be told to just direct them to the Fios corporate line anyway!!)

After a week at Olympus Direct, I had a “heart-to-heart” chat with my boss, the “owner”. I explained to him my feelings of wanting to possibly leave Olympus Direct due to the long hours (roughly 12 stress-filled hours a day, 4 hours of it not even paid!!! there is no punching in or out at this job so they only count your 11-12 hour day as an 8 hour one) and S**t pay overall with false representations of commissions (many other red flags had been raised as well over the course of that week, none of which I mentioned to him specifically). My boss basically laid on the guilt trip about how I “shouldn’t quit when things get tough” and about how “i’m still too new to see how much income i can make there once I’m good enough at selling FIOS”. He even voluntarily told me how much money my team leader was allegedly making, just to try to rope me in even more to not quit on them. I didn’t believe a word out of his mouth. It was surreal. All of it. He ended our conversation by telling me to think it over and come back to him Monday with my decision on whether I wanted to stay or leave the company.

The next day, while I was out of the office, I went home and researched everything I could about this mysterious less-than-a-year-old company, Olympus Direct. I discovered that:

1) Their training binder (which they aptly refer to as their “bible”) lists on it’s later pages several names of people behind the company and the name “Jim Majeski”, one of about a dozen names in the list. Jim is in fact the president of.. Cydcor.

2) The software we used on the in-store tablets to sign people up for Verizon FIOS assigned us all usernames that were all followed by the letters “cyd”…short for….you guessed it!Cydcor!!

After having a conversation about these two bullet points with a friend over the phone at home, I returned to Cydcor Monday morning. I intended to walk in, immediately tell my boss I quit, hand in my verizon polo shirt, and walk out..but that’s not exactly what happened. I walked in and saw my boss and immediately attempted to walk over to him (I noticed he was hurrying back and forth inside the office to different rooms after seeing me there, trying to avoid me) when suddenly an announcement was made that we would be having our morning meeting (which always just consisted of the other “owner” of the company standing at the front of the room and exclaiming to us “Mike sold 4 of ____ yesterday!” *synchronized golf clap from the zombie sales team* Joe sold 2 of _____ yesterday! *synchronized golf clap from the zombie sales team* and then some made-up story and motivational “words of wisdom” meant to tug on the heart strings of the hopelessly lobotomized young adults in the room…well here’s where it gets even weirder…”coincidentally” for the first time, the morning meeting consisted of something other than the sales numbers of the previous day..this time, the other “owner” of the company, did a presentation on the “legitimacy of their business and it’s link to this never-spoken-of-before company called ….Cydcor!” He talked about how they angelically provide all the support he needs for STC Direct/Olympus Direct, offering advice, taking care of payroll duties, and keeping watch to make sure everything is running properly! BULL….SH**. (in reality, it is all just a giant scam to convince people that they will be actual owners of their own office with the startup costs all provided by the all-knowing, all-loving Cydcor… I’m here to tell you through my research that I discovered Cydcor has power of attorney over “your” business and “your” business’s bank account, something that must have slipped the presenting “owner’s” mind I suppose!)

How did they know to bring up this very topic (which nobody, including myself, ever brought up to them) on this very day and “mythbust” the bad “pyramid MLM” press it’s notorious for? I do not know.

Many of the other sales people surrounding me had been with the company for MONTHS and this was their first time being exposed to the true roots of their company.The other “owner” threw out lies, false promises (“You can make millions of dollars a year if you just stick with our company and don’t leave!”), inflated #s, and even tried to tell everyone that the median household income in the US is $28,000, a flat-out lie. This was clearly the first time the discussion was brought up to many of them about the cydcor connection and just so happened to be the day after I called my buddy about the “Olympus Direct/cydcor connection.”

This entire “Cydcor/Olympus Direct connection” presentation that i was subjected to that day was purposely put on and directed subliminally at me to try to sway me from quitting, as they knew I had natural sales abilities after 3 days of in-store training and did not want to let me go and deal with the hassle of trying to find another worthwhile employee, as the turnover rate here is incredibly (and understandably) high. This goes to show just how cultish this place and these sociopathic lunatics truly are.

After this presentation ended, I noticed the team leaders and upper management frantically running around the office into different meeting rooms and closing the doors behind them to discuss what was obviously very confidential information. Next thing I know, about a dozen of my fellow sales reps began walking into my boss’s office. I began following them into the small office, assuming i could finally find my boss, who I was looking for so I could quit this scam job already! Well…I walked in with all of them and suddenly, a fellow salesperson in the group turned and noticed I was following them into there. Her face was filled with shock and she said something along the lines of “you can’t be in here, you have to wait out here”. She closed the door and immediately after this, another fellow sales rep came up to me from behind and led me to a whiteboard across the room to try to explain to me “why work ethics and attitude go hand in hand” (he had obviously been tipped off by management that I wanted to quit, as I had never mentioned anything to him)

Finally, I spotted my boss again and approached him. I told him I made my decision and was going to leave the company. He grinned and told me he noticed I sat through the other “owner’s” entire morning meeting presentation, hinting that he thought they had won me over with their BS story about how Cydcor is supposedly a great and honest company to be part of. I told him “I was just waiting so I could catch up with you so I could tell you I’m quitting.” At this point, he realized the jig was up and sat me down to sign the termination contract. He politely wished me luck and I got the hell out of there, never to return.

I do not know for certain how many of these people are “in on it” and how many are just too ignorant to realize they’ve been brainwashed, but the week I spent with this company was the most disturbing and surreal experience of my life. These people are all smiles until the day you get wise to their agenda. I would have rolled my eyes before if someone told me this place was a brainwashing cult, but it’s no joke. It’s straight out of the twilight zone.

I’ve been to a couple Cydcor company interviews here in Raleigh, NC. The companies are The Capital Group, 312 Marketing, Synergy Marketing, Business Solutions, and most recently Vanguard Events. I will say that a HUGE red flag for me was walking into an office that looked like they just moved in the day prior. The first time I went into an interview I thought “where do the employees work? This office only consists of a reception area, 1 other office, and a multi-purpose room.” They were VERY vague about the day-to-day tasks of the position and told me that Id have to come back in for a 2nd interview before I could know what the position pays. I was also told to wear comfortable shoes for Day 2. I started doing some Googling and didn’t like what I saw and declined their offer.

I would honestly say to anyone out there working at a Cydcor relates office to quit unless you’re happy. Yes there are some qualities that you can gain but for the most part you can gain those qualities while also being paid. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. No one is going to “train you to become a manager” and pay you $1000 a week for skills and experience you dont have. Realistically it would cost a company more than they would make off of you to do something like this. If you go to an interview and the office is so bare that it looks like the company can pack up and leave overnight, you are interviewed with another applicant, and they cannot tell you SPECIFICALLY what you’ll be paid without you having to come back for a 2nd interview then that SHOULD be a clear indication that something isn’t right

But after I left this company, my attitude about life and perspective changed. I began cracking interviews and getting jobs and being really excited. It sort of changed my life. But those were really good, the things they said were so convincing and they were so on point.

I worked for a similar company -not Cydcor but a lot of the things you mentioned were similar but not exact. They actually paid hourly PLUS commission, it was sales but not door to door, I was a W-2 employee, they were more professional than what you’re making Cydcor out to be but there is a similarities in the basic structure. I was sold on the opportunity to move up and here I am, a small business owner running a successful business on my own terms with corporate backing, thanks to this structure. So, it’s definitely not always a scam, in this case I suppose I was lucky enough to land with the right company.

I was suckered into this company for about a month back in 2012. At the time they operated under the name Marketing Solutions, located in Hartford, CT. I was an eager, young college grad at the time, trying to get out of my minimum wage restaurant job. I worked 60 hours a day, 5 days a week at Marketing Solutions, and at the end of that month I only made $300. I made more in a week at my minimum wage job. At least I was paid fairly for my hours at the restaurant.

Ha! Craiglist is full of bogus companies like this taking advantage of the high unemployment rate here in the US. A friend answered an ad for entry-level customer service reps only to be invited to a group meeting for a company seeking to train insurance agents for $250.00. The ad gave a totally different impression; fortunately, my friend did a Google search on the business name/address and saw dozens of angry posts about this deceptive company. So he dodged the bullet on that one. Shame on these companies, but until the public gets wiser about these tactics, they will continue to exploit the unsuspecting. Thanks for exposing these charlatans. Woo Hoo!